07 September 2011

This morning marked the start of joy school for the year. We hosted the event at our home, kicking it off with some fun. Our theme this week is "All About Me," the letter is "F," and our shape is an oval. I am starting a blog for our joy school this year so check over there for details! Hopefully at the end of the year we can give the kids blog books of our joy school year.
Here is Amelia starting her first day of joy school, year two. I made her outfit two weeks ago and held back the tremendous urge to post photos early. She totally rocked the pleated skirt, appliqued shirt, and hat. I love this fabric line from Timeless Treasures. Reminds me of fall, school, and hot chocolate.

Alison took Phillip for me (major thanks) and then invited Mia over to play afterwards until 4 pm. Everett was not so happy today. It made joy school a little challenging. He ended up crying for about an hour since he would not nap, eat, or settle down. He was not happy the rest of the day either so maybe he was not feeling well. I think we will survive joy school! This week I am investing in the Rusty and Rosy reading program by the Waterford Institute. Jacob Lance used it and practically learned to read in preschool! They also have a cool looking DVD teaching the letter sounds that I want.

Monday we had a hankering to go somewhere for Labor Day. The zoo was closed most of the summer after the North Platte river flooded the zoo. It reopened a couple weeks ago. We decided to take the kids up there for a fun little outing. We had a fun time! Amelia was feeding the fish and ducks when a lady asked her where she was from. Amelia responded, "I am from Nebraska, not the zoo." Crack me up. The kids loved the lion drinking fountain, the monkeys, and the tiger. Amelia especially loved petting and feeding the goats. I forgot to grab some quarters to buy feed for the animals. A couple people shared their feed pellets with Amelia to give the goats. She was in heaven. Most of the animals were back in their cages but there were quite a few empty cages as well. The Bengal tiger was in a foul mood. He paced, growled, and roared while we watched. Amelia told us she was brave so went to stand by the fence. The tiger charged towards her stopping an inch shy of the fence. She ran to me and said, "mom, I guess I am not so brave anymore!" Had we been in the wild and a tiger charged we'd all need a change of pants! LOL.
The weather was cooler so I did not bring any swim wear for the splash pad. We let Amelia run around in her undies and Phillip in a diaper. It worked out well. The water was way too cold for getting totally wet but perfect to wet your feet and legs. Phillip got caught in the water once (see the collage). He did not get wet again. Fun times. We ended the day with treats from Sonic for our long drive home. I crocheted two hats during the drive. It felt nice to crochet something again.